


Oh Ye Innocence In Sweet Light

by MsBluebell



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: A Child's View Of Their Dysfunctional Family, Birthday Fluff, Child Neglect, Childhood, Childhood Friends, Den City is a Fucking Nightmare, Flower Crowns, Kid Fic, M/M, Personal Canon, Pre-Canon, Pre-Lost Incident, Puppy Love, Sleepovers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Trans Fujiki Yuusaku, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:48:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27581602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsBluebell/pseuds/MsBluebell
Summary: Yusaku, age six, is on a super important mission to make his new best friend happy for his birthday.(Or, in which before canon Yusaku and Ryouken were baby married.)
Relationships: Fujiki Yuusaku/Revolver | Kougami Ryouken
Comments: 3
Kudos: 23





	Oh Ye Innocence In Sweet Light

Sleepovers aren’t supposed to last a whole month, but then again, Yusaku isn’t really an expert on sleepovers in the first place.

It might be a little strange, he thinks, but no one is really saying anything. He just needs to text nanny Noriko every night to let her know where he is, then stop by their apartment every day to turn in his homework and pick up today’s, and it’s fine. No one really seems to care, especially not his new best friend has been so happy.

Yusaku yawns, rubbing his sleepy eyes awake. He crawls a bit, trying to escape the bedsheets and fluffy pillow. It’s all white, because Ryou’s house is mostly just white and grey things. Yusaku doesn’t really like it, but it’s his friends house, not his. He’s just sort of living here for a little while. But it makes the bedsheets seem endless when he tries to escape them in the morning.

He finds the exit and escapes from the silky smooth sheets, falling a little bit off Ryou’s bed. Holding his breath, he peeks over the edge of the bed, making sure that he hadn’t woken up his best friend during his escape. Peering past the over fluffy white feather comforter, he finds Ryou still sleeping, arms still wrapped around the pillow Yusaku had carefully placed between them before he fell asleep last night to keep him from cuddling him, his grey pajamas sticking out against all the white, face buried into what he must think is Yusaku’s hair but is really the fuzzy end of the pillow.

Excellent. Everything was going according to his plan.

Puffing out his cheeks, Yusaku slowly uncurls from the remains of the sheets, getting to his feet and sneakily sneaking to Ryou’s bedroom door, reaching out and very, very, slowly twisting the doorknob and opening it as quietly as he can. Very quick, he looks over his shoulder again, checking to make sure his best friend hasn't woken up still. But Ryou was still all nice and quiet and peaceful, pretty silver hair barely peeking past the pillows.

With a satisfied huff, Yusaku sneaks out of the room, very quietly pulling the door closed behind him and untwisting the knob. He giggled to himself, twisting the edge of his nightshirt between his hands, tiptoeing off to the kitchen. 

He felt safer walking to the kitchen now, his fuzzy socks brushing against the fancy hardwood he’s become very familiar with. The Maidbots are all busy cleaning around the house, trying to get it all nice and shiny before Ryou’s normal wake up time. Normally, he’d try to be friendly and talk to them, maybe thank them for working so hard to keep the house all neat and tidy, but today he has a very important mission and can’t afford to stop for anything.

Clutching his shirt harder, he ducked past a corner, pushing the fancy glass door open and walking into the kitchen. He takes a moment to stop, green eyes carefully taking in the shiny surfaces. The Maidbots must have already been here, which means Yusaku was about to mess up their hard work. He swallowed, feeling a _little_ bad about it, but pushing that feeling down and reminding himself he’d make it up to them later.

Today was a super special day, afterall.

Sizing up with confidence, Yusaku rushes to one of the stools they sit on for meal times, pulling it away from the island countertop and towards the stove, setting it on all four legs and climbing on top of it.

Technically, he’s not supposed to be cooking without Ms. Noriko watching, cause he could hurt himself. But he thinks he’s grown up enough to do this without her. He hasn’t almost hurt himself since he was five and a half. He’s careful enough to do this. Besides, it wasn’t like Mr. Noriko actually did anything. She just watched him all quiet like and only moved if he almost cut or burned himself. 

But he was being super careful today, and he wasn’t making anything that needed knives or something, just the stove. So he stands on his tippity toes and reaches across the fancy flattop and hits the right button to preheat it. Satisfied with his accomplishment, Yusaku hops down from the stool and drags it to his next destination, ready to get to work.

He’d been very carefully planning this day all weak, super sneakily adding extra groceries over their trips to the store.

Ever since they started living together it’s been up to Yusaku to shop for the groceries and make them food for breakfast and dinner. Because Ryouken was gross and happy to order take-out from expensive restaurants and have people in cars drop it off at the front gate every night. But that’s not how you’re supposed to do dinner, and most of the restaurants didn’t follow the specialized diet Ms. Noriko said his mother made for him. So Yusaku put his foot down and decided that, since he did all the shopping and cooking with his nanny and knew what to do, that he’d take care of all the food from now on. And that’s been the rule for about two weeks now, which made it easy to get what he needed for everything.

Feeling very clever, Yusaku pads towards the refrigerator, throwing it open and getting out the eggs and such. Then, feeling even more clever, he put down his goods and started crawling towards where Ryouken kept the bowls Yusaku helped him pick out, opening the cabinet and getting the biggest one he could find, and the hidden supplies behind it.

Now with everything in hand, Yusaku fell back on his bottom, the giant bowl positioned between his legs, and the rest of his very important ingredients next to him. Checking it over one last time, he nodded to him, picking up the most important box of all and sharing a long look with it.

See, today was a very important day, and for this important day he had a very particular mission. Very particular and very important. 

He was going to make a birthday breakfast.

Giggling to himself, he peels open the lid to the cake mix, carefully peeling open the bag so he didn’t rip it all the way down the side, then dumping it as best he could in the bowl. The chocolate mix was dusty, but he managed not to spill any. Satisfied, Yusaku threw the bag to the side to clean up later, reading the back of the box to see what he was supposed to do next.

“Two large eggs…” He read out, peering at the small instructions with green eyes. None of the words were too complicated, and there were neat little pictures to help him along, so he felt confident. Besides, nothing here had anything on the big, complicated, business words that Ms. Noriko made him learn. So he peels open the egg carton beside him, taking out one at a time and gently as he can and cracking them against the bowl, just the way Ms. Noriko’s showed him, nice and gentle. 

He’s gotten pretty good at cracking eggs since he started living in Ryou house sometimes, because that one of the only things Ryou likes that he can make. Eggs. Ryou likes his eggs folded into sandwiches. Yusaku had to help his friend buy a toaster just so he could have his breakfast sandwiches, because no matter how hard he tried he just couldn’t get used to toasting bread in the pan and kept burning them. He also couldn’t manage most of the meats Ryou liked on his breakfast, so they had to get special pans that pressed closed and cooked stuff.

Actually, Yusaku had to help Ryou buy a lot of things. The first night he stayed over he had learned that his friend barely had any plates! And there was no kettle of hot chocolate and tea, and barely any silverware! He was lucky Ms Noriko wasn’t here, because that wasn’t any way to live! You need plates to entertain guests! Guests like him! So they had to go to the store the next day with a list written in crayon and buy everything with the shiny card Ryou’s dad gave him for food stuff. Yusaku let his friend pick out what they got, since this was his house and money, so most of what they got had aliens or laser blasters on it. With a few things that were dragons, because Ryou loved dragons a whole lot. 

Personally, Yusaku liked wizards more. He still thinks that Ryou should have gotten the Dark Magician cups over the Blue-Eyes ones, but he wasn’t going to say anything because his friend was paying. But Ryou also bought him a Dark Magician bento box for when they go on picnics, so that made up for it.

But that’s not important now! Right now he has to finish the birthday cake!

Refocused now, Yusaku reaches out to slide the measuring cup closer to him, the cartoonish Pot Of Greed marked with the measurements he needed. Focusing very hard, the boy pinched his tongue between his lips, sliding the cooking oil closer and twisting the lid open, pouring uber carefully. He’s proud that he only spilled a _little_ on the floor. He’d clean that up later, first he needed to finish the cake.

Pinching his lips again, he worked his way through the rest of the ingredients, pushing the bottles of vanilla and bags of cocoa aside once he’s done and promising himself he’ll tidy it up in a bit. He has to move a bit to grab a big spoon and mix it. The mix was thicker then he’d thought it would be, but he managed to keep the batter off the floor. Instead it just got all over the spoon and his hands, which just meant he got to taste it first.

Technically, he shouldn’t be tasting it at all. Ms. Noriko would be upset with him if he cheated on his diet, and if she told his mama then he’d get in trouble and then he might never ever get to meet her. Because Ms Noriko said that he’d only get to meet his mother if he was very, very, good and did well on his lessons. But, he reasons, today was a special day. And he wouldn’t be able to tell if the cake would turn out right if he didn’t _taste_ it, right? 

Right.

Besides, Ms. Noriko didn’t have to know. And it was only an itty bitty taste. Just to see if he made the mix right. 

Nodding to himself at his very smart thinking, Yusaku sticks out his tongue, giving a small and hesitant lick, only to recoil at how _sweet_ it tasted. He coughed, blowing raspberries to try and get the taste out of his mouth. That was so gross. So, so, gross.

Ryou was going to love it.

Still trying to wipe the taste out of his mouth, Yusaku moved to the cake pan, pouring as much of the mix as he could in it, but only after spraying the pan with the stuff that’s supposed to keep the cake from sticking. Then, with all that done, he very, very, very carefully opened the oven door. The heat hit him in the face and made the whole experience super scary, but he managed to push the cake in and slam the door closed super fast.

Letting out a sigh of relief, the boy sat on the floor again, taking a minute to think of what he wanted to do next. He squirmed a bit, blinking his green eyes and looking down at his now messy sleep shirt, pouting a bit. He was hoping to look nice and clean for the special day, but he guesses not. He wonders, for a moment, if he can take a super fast shower before Ryou wakes up, but realizes he might not have time to make the rest of breakfast if he did. 

Oh well, some sacrifices must be made if Ryou is going to wake up to the perfect birthday breakfast. 

Decision made, the blue and pink haired boy stood up, brushing off his sleep pants and shirt as best he could, and padding his way over to the egg carton still laying with the rest of his supplies, snatching it up so he could start making Ryou’s favorite egg sandwiches. The egg and cheese one, with maple syrup because he has a super sweet tooth and it’s gross and he was gonna die from diabetes someday and Yusaku had to _make_ him eat right, and most of the time Yusaku made avocado toast or spinach eggs, so the sandwiches were special enough he guesses.

Still, he’d have liked to make something _more_ special, like pancakes, but they don’t have a fancy iron for that and he doesn’t know how to make them without burning them yet. So he’ll just have to make extra breakfast and present them extra special.

Grabbing Ryou’s favorite plate from the cabinet, the one with the laser gun alien fighting Stardust Dragon, he sets it down on the counter. Then he scrambles to the refrigerator again to quickly make Ryou some milk so he could make hot chocolate, his favorite _warm_ breakfast drink. 

With the milk ready and eggs on the counter, Yusaku sets about his chores, using all the special knick knacks and other machines to make breakfast as fast as possible. The kitchen is super messy by the time he’s done, with their milk steamer all gross and their counter covered in toast crumbs, but it’s fine, because everything was getting done and the cake was gonna be done soon. 

The young boy was just setting up his best friend’s seat and drizzling the maple syrup when he heard a soft, “Yu?”

Yusaku jumped, almost dropping the syrup bottle, whirling around to find Ryou standing in the doorway, rubbing his eye sleepily. His pajamas were all wrinkled, and his hair was all fluffy and messed up, nothing like his normal neat and tidy look. His friend frowned at him, walking forward, bare feet slapping against the expensive wood floor. The blue haired boy froze in place, having been caught before he could finish his plan and wake up his friend himself, and all he could do was sit there, maple syrup covered and wide eyed as Ryou padded closer and closer.

“What are you doing?” Ryou asked, reaching out both his hands to grab one of Yusaku’s, only to pause and frown when he saw how sticky and gross the younger boy was. He frowned even deeper now, his eyebrows knitting together, and Yusaku’s whole stomach sank when he realized how upset his friend was. “You’re making me breakfast already? Why didn’t you wake me up if you were hungry? You scared me…”

His stomach became even more upset at the words, twisting uncomfortably with guilt. That’s why he wanted to hurry. Ryou doesn’t like waking up by himself. He doesn’t like being by himself at all, actually. It’s why Yusaku had started staying over every night since that first sleepover, because they were both lonely, but Ryou was _really_ lonely and started getting anxious if he was by himself for too long. And that was fine with him, because he’s gotten used to being with Ryou, and he didn’t like being gone for too long from him either. So he didn’t mind sitting together and doing their different schoolworks all day, or going shopping together, or picking up his schoolwork from Ms Noriko together, or sharing the bed and cuddling. He liked all that. But it made his friend really scared when he wasn’t around…

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled, holding out the sandwich plate, “I wanted to make you a happy birthday breakfast surprise.”

Blue eyes blinked a bit, confusion replacing hurt as Ryou tilted his head and made a small noise, “Birthday? But it’s spring. My birthday isn't until the end of summer…”

“Well...no…” Yusaku squirmed a bit, looking down at the plate in his hands, the warm sandwich covered in syrup waiting for gifting. So he held it out instantly, hoping his friend would enjoy it and that it would make up for him not being there when Ryou woke up. “...but it’s _my_ birthday.”

He shoved the plate in his friend’s hands, trying to show how much he really did just want this breakfast to be special, “Surprise!”

“Your birthday…” Blue eyes blinked dumbly for a moment, Ryou taking the plate almost with realizing he was doing it. A small mumble leaving his lips as his brain tried to catch up with his words, “Thank you…”

There was a moment, one that Yusaku could see, where Ryou realized what he’d said. Because suddenly he shot up straighter, his eyes going wide with surprise and voice loud, “It's your birthday?! Why didn't you tell me! I would have gotten you something!”

The younger boy bit his bottom lip, hands twisting the front of his dirty and yucky shirt. He looked down, watching his hands as they twisted the fabric, “I wanted it to be a surprise…”

Green eyes turned back to the ruined kitchen, watching the splotches of batter and egg yoke and spilled oil on the floor, wondering if he’d made a mistake. He wasn’t used to birthdays, having only really seen them play out on television shows during his free time. Ms. Noriko usually let him cheat on his diet on his birthdays, and maybe got him a present, and his mother usually sent him something in the mail, but he’d never done something with cake like in the shows. It always seemed magical to him, special. But now he’s wondering if maybe that was all wrong. 

He just wanted to show Ryou how grateful he was to get to spend this special day with him, because the month he’s spent on this sleepover has been the best of his life so far, and maybe it shouldn’t feel more like home then the small house he and Ms. Noriko lived, but it does. He loves being here, because he loves Ryou, and he wants to be here forever and ever. Not at home with Ms. Noriko, who doesn’t really like him and just follows him around and stares at him when lessons are done, or hovers over his bed all night watching him sleep and not saying anything. 

But here he feels...loved. Everyday has been something amazing. Every morning he wakes up to cuddles with Ryou, and then they have a yummy breakfast, and they get ready for the day together, and pick up his schoolwork together, and then help each other with homework. It was nice, having someone his own age around, having someone that _cares_ about him around. And he feels smarter, talking to Ryou, like all the business stuff he’s learning comes easier to him because Ryou is smart too and they can figure it out together. Just being here has made him better. So he wanted to thank Ryou and show him that he wouldn’t mind being here forever.

Hanging his head in shame, he muttered softly, “I tried to get everything done before you woke up so it would be a special birthday surprise.”

Titling his head, Ryou made a small noise, confusion clear in the sligh sound. But he spoke politely, because he’s always super polite to everyone, “Aren't people supposed to have _other_ people do things for them on their birthday?”

Yusaku frowned more.

Then Ryou paused, seeming to realize that Yusaku wasn’t happy, before shaking his head dismissively, “Well, it's your birthday and you're supposed to do what you want on your birthday, right?”

“...I guess?” Yusaku muttered, twisting the hem of his shirt in his hands still.

“Right! So you did a good job.” Ryou smiled brilliantly at him, the same smile that always made Yusaku feel better when he was a little bit sad. Yusaku felt his own lips twitching upwards, his worries melting away as his best friend looked down at his breakfast and beamed, “It looks great! You always do a good job Yu!”

The younger boy’s face felt warm, bubbles of happiness boiling in his belly as he let out a pleased sound.

“Happy Birthday, Yu!” Ryou put the plate on the island, leaving it behind so he could hug Yusaku’s neck. Something that only ruined his pajamas as he got sticky syrup and batter all over him too, but he didn’t seem to mind at all. Instead only pouting a little about something else, “I really wished you'd told me, though! I wanted to get you a good present!”

“You being happy _is_ my present!” Yusaku protested, hugging his friend back, twisting Ryou’s shirt in his hands and burying his face in the other boy’s neck. “I love you Ryou.”

His friend made a muffled but happy noise against his hair, hugging him tighter. For a long time Ryou just stood there, hugging him as tight as he could. Then he nodded, all confident with his next idea, “Well, how about once we eat and take a bath, we go out on a Birthday Date! People go out on their birthdays, right? We can go pick you out a present, and do whatever else you want!”

That sounded really, really, nice. Maybe they could go on another picnic in the park, or skip rocks on the beach. Or maybe they could just go to a card shop, or a toy store, or...or…

He doesn’t care what they do, as long as they get to do it together.

“Okay. Okay! But we gotta wait for the birthday cake to get done.” He nods against Ryou, then, realizing he needs to explain, he shyly mumbles. “I made you a birthday cake.”

His friend froze for a second, tensing like he’d got caught doing something bad. Yusaku wonders what he did wrong this time, because when Ryou pulled away his eyes were kinda wet, like he was going to cry.

“Ryou!” He balls his hands, “Don’t cry! I didn’t mean to upset you!”

“I’m not upset.” Ryou sniffs, whipping his eyes with his sleep, sparing Yusaku a watery smile, “No one has... ever made me a cake before.”

Ohhhhhhh.

Well that wasn’t right. Ryou deserves to have a cake for his and every other birthday. Ryou is the best person in the world! He should never not have cake! “Well I did!”

“Thank you…” Ryou sniffed again, whipping his eyes one more time. “I know you don't like sweets, but you still made me one anyway, and on your own birthday, too.”

“Well, I wanted you to have cake.” Yusaku explains simply. “Best friends are supposed to share their birthday cake.”

But that wasn’t the important part, Yusaku realized with a start, because breakfast was getting cold! So he tugged on Ryou’s sleeve, trying to pull him towards the island countertop, “You should eat before your breakfast gets cold. I made hot chocolate too. Your favorite.”

“You're the best, Yu! I'll make sure to pay you back on my birthday!” Ryou beamed again, crawling onto the stool where his breakfast was sat. He made another pleased noise as he looked at the collection of food, “I know you don't like cake or sweets, so we can have fruits arrangements and the pork buns you like instead.”

“You don't have to Ryou, I just want you to be happy.” Yusaku smiled, feeling his face go all warm again. Then he jumped as a loud ding rang through the room, “Oh! The cake!”

Rushing off to get the cake out of the oven, he grabbed the oven mitts they’d bought when they went shopping for pots and pans, shaped like Blue-Eyes White Dragons. He grabbed a big spoon too, crawling on top of his own stool and using the spoon to press the off button on the stove. Then he jumped down, finally opening the oven and letting a big wave of heat hit him in the face. He stopped, suddenly intimidated by the task in front of him. Back at the apartment he would ask Ms. Noriko did this part for him, but now she wasn’t here, and he didn’t want to make Ryou do it.

“Ahhh, I think I'll let it cool off a bit first.” Yusaku decided, taking off the mitts and dropping them on the floor, abandoning the task for a bit to scoot his stool back to the island and sit beside Ryou, ready to eat his own, much less sugary, breakfast.

“Well, that's okay.” Ryou smiled at him as Yusaku settled in his seat, “We can sit down and eat our breakfast first, and then we can decorate the cake together once it's cooled!”

“Yeah.” Yusaku perked up, fingers curling around his plate. He bought some already made icing in Ryou’s favorite colors, blue and green and sometimes purple and silver. He was gonna try to decorate it himself, but doing it _with_ Ryou sounds more fun. “Good idea.”

So they didn’t waste any more time, both of them turning to eat their breakfast. Both of them had grown up learning not to talk during mealtimes, and to be polite and not messy. Although lately one of them would mumble something about the food being yummy to the other, especially Ryou, who really liked saying nice things about his cooking. 

It was something they were both getting used to, because Ryou’s dad wasn’t home all the time and when he was they don’t talk during food time. And Yusaku has never seen Ms. Noriko eat, she just stands at the head of the table with her hands clasped and watches him until his food is all gone, never saying a word or answering him when he speaks, and then it would be bedtime. Sharing a mealtime with someone that wants to talk is strange, and they’re both still a little scared to do it, so they never say more than one or two things until their food is done and both their feet have touched the ground.

But then it’s all just giggles and trying to hide laughter behind their hands, because they both have been thinking about decorating the cake through breakfast. And Ryou is more excited about it then Yusaku, because he rushes towards the stove like his dessert will run away from him if he doesn’t catch it. 

The younger of the boys pads after his friend, picking up the discarded mitts along the way. The oven is still warm when he walks up, but it’s a lot less scary than when he felt the heat hitting him in the face all super warm and so strong he thinks he could melt just by standing in front of it. Ryou is peering inside, blue eyes squinting at the cake.

Yusaku hands him one of the mitts, which are so big that just one of them can fit both of his hands and still go all the way up to his elbow, “Let’s get it together, kay? That way we won’t drop it.”

“I can get it.” Ryou offers, taking his mitt. 

“Nooooo.” Yusaku protests, stomping his foot to show how serious he is, “I made it for you! So I gotta take it out of the oven! It’s my responsibility!”

His best friend blinked a little, seeming surprised by Yusaku’s display, but that just showed that Ryou doesn’t realize how _terrifying_ it is to take the cake out of the oven all by yourself, even if it cooled down a lot. He didn’t protest, though, he just nodded and gave a slow, “Okay...if you’re sure…”

Yusaku nodded firmly, determined. Then, summoning all his courage, he turned to the oven, his greatest enemy, and reached inside and grabbed one of the handles with his protected hands. A long minute after he saw Ryou’s hand grab the other handle, and together they counted down and heaved the cake away. 

Together, the side-stepped away from the oven, sorta almost crab walking until they reach the little chopping board that never gets used and manage to work their way onto getting the too warm cake pan on top of it. With small cheers they settle it, somehow not dropping the chocolate cake all over the floor. Yusaku feels particularly proud of the feat.

Ryou is impatient, that much is very obvious to Yusaku, because his friend is already dragging both the stools over to the counter, climbing on top so he can get to the cake, “Come on Yu!”

“Just wait a minute.” Yusaku tells him, moving to the cabinet where he hid the colored frostings. He pulls out the little baggy, twisting the handles around his hand and going back to scale his seat with it, dumping them onto the counter and letting them roll across a bit before reaching over to grab a cakey flat thingy to rub the icing on it with. “I got you all your favorite colors.”

“You’re the best, Yu.” The smile Ryou came him was the biggest, brightest, bestest smile Yusaku could earn from his friend, one he rarely got. Because Ryou was “cool” and “reserved” and “professional” and didn’t like acting like a baby. Because he was mature and wanted to be a scientist like his papa so he could work in the labs and spend more time with him. 

Although Yusaku supported Ryou’s dream of being an important scientist in his important lab stuff with his papa, sometimes he super secretly worried that it meant he wouldn’t get to see his best friend anymore. Because if Ryou is spending all his time doing important science work with his papa then that meant he wouldn’t be here with him. He’s scared to tell the older boy, though, because he doesn’t want Ryou to feel bad or stop trying to be a scientist because of him. Still, he worries that once Ryou gets to spend more time with his papa then he won’t be so lonely anymore, and then the reason they are friends in the first place won’t exist and he won’t want Yusaku anymore. Just like how mama doesn’t want him if he’s not smart enough.

But he’s being silly right now. Today is his birthday, which means he shouldn’t be thinking about sad stuff like that. He should be focusing on making his best friend happy. So he grabs the flat cake thing and works to open the icings, “What color do you want the background?”

“Blue.” Ryou says without even really thinking about it, grabbing the mitts and turning over the cake pan so he could get the cake out. It takes a few bangs, and some of the top is ripped off, and there’s a crack on the right side of the chocolate, but he gets it. The imperfections bother Yusaku a bit, because he wanted it to be perfect, but he figures that covering it with the icing will fix it and make it better.

“Okay.” He stabs the blue icing with the flat thing, scooping some out and then slapping it on top of the cake, which makes some splatter a bit, blue droplets of icing ending up all over the counter. But Yusakuu ignores the mess in favor of trying to spread the icing around the cake as even as he can.

Ryou grabs a spoon and tries to help him, and they try to spread the blue, trying not to hit each other while they cover all the brown chocolate and make sure there’s no holes. When they’re done the cake looks a bit lumpy, but it’s all blue and he doesn’t see any brown, so it’s wonderful.

“Now we can decorate the rest of it however we want.” Yusaku reaches out to grab another icing cup, holding it victoriously over his head. 

“I want lots of stars and flowers.” Ryou states, popping another lid and sticking his fingers into the icing, collecting a whole bunch onto his finger, reaching out to draw on the cake with it like he’s fingerpainting. It’s not how you’re supposed to do it, Yusaku thinks, but...now that he thinks about it, he doesn’t know if he bought the things he needs to really decorate a cake the way they do on those cartoons and such. 

Puffing out his cheeks as he realizes this, he gives up the idea of doing things the right way and decides to follow Ryou’s lead and, cleaning his fingers on a towel before dipping his hands in the green icing and joining the older boy in his finger caking. 

The cake, in the end, doesn’t look anything like the ones on TV. It’s lumpy, with uneven icing and mismatched decorations. There’s a scrawly smiley face, stars that look more like Xes, flowers with leaves that look like polka dots, and their dragon looks more like a fish with sharp teeth. 

But Ryou looks so happy with it that Yusaku can’t complain. His friend looks at the cake like it’s the most beautiful cake in the world, and no cake will ever be better. It’s enough to make Yusaku feel pretty proud of it too.

The silver haired boy was so proud of it he took pictures. Or, actually, he got one of the cameras or robots around the house to take pictures. Then he rushed off to get his phone to take more pictures. Ryou took lots and lots of pictures, more pictures than Yusaku really thought he needed, but that’s what made his friend happy, so he wasn’t going to say anything. 

“This is the best cake ever.” Ryou declared with every picture, flushing with pride. “I almost don’t want to eat it so I can keep it forever.”

“But you gotta eat it.” Yusaku declared, shocked by his sweet-toothed friend’s statement, “Or else it’ll go bad!”

Ryou chuckled at him, his eyes squeezing shut and hands clutching the phone. He turned, eyes cracking open again, his blue gaze all shiny and happy and bright. “I know, but it’s the most perfect cake ever, and _you_ made it for _me_ . How can I _not_ want to keep it?

Yusaku felt his face flush again, that pleased bubbling returning to his stomach as he clutched the front of his shirt again. His heart did a little twisty thing, something it does a lot around Ryou. He told it to shut up though, deciding that now it was time to be responsible again. “Well, then we’ll save the cake for after bath time then.”

“Ah, a good point.” Ryou looks down at Yusaku’s sleep shirt, still yucky and covered in gross stuff. But he doesn’t look as grossed out as Yusaku feels, he just smiles and holds out his hand for Yusaku to take. And Yusaku does, because even sticky and gross he loves holding Ryou’s hand.

“Come on.” Ryou pulls him along, leading him off of the stool and across the kitchen, out into the hall where the Maidbots weren’t cleaning anymore. His socks are a little dirty from the kitchen, but he doesn’t think he dirties it up. Not that he cares right now, because his best friend is smiling at him and holding his hand and Yusaku is always tingly on the inside when that happens.

The bathroom is huge, and Yusaku doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to just how big it is. It’s got two sinks with big mirrors on either side of the room. The toilet has its own little mini-room with a door to separate it from the rest of the bathroom. There’s a fancy shower tucked into the corner, a self-cleaning one, and the bathtub is tucked into a risen part of the floor, making it look like it was sunken in when it really wasn’t. 

Ryou lets go of his hand and immediately goes towards the bathtub, balancing on his knees to lean in and plug it up and turn on the water. Then he hops down, skittering towards one of the sink cabinets and throwing it open, which could only mean…

“Are we using the bubble bath today?” Yusaku doesn’t think he can hide the excitement anymore. They only used the bubble bath on _really_ important occasions, like when one of them was upset and the other wanted to make them feel better. He’s happy, really happy, that he was able to make this day special enough for Ryou to earn the bubble bath.

“Sure are.” Ryou slips past him, the bottle in hand, and crawls back onto his perch to overturn the bubble bath into the tub.

One good thing about the bathtub that is different from the one Yusaku has at the place he and Ms. Noriko live, besides how big it is, is the fact it has these little jet thingies that make the bubbles really, really, big. A type of bath lots of people have in the New York City State, Ryou told him one time. But it doesn’t take long for the bath to be _filled_ with the bubbles.

“Come on.” Ryou looks back at him, holding out a hand.

Yusaku nods, taking off his gross shirt, dropping it on the floor for the Maidbots to pick up and do in the laundry later. Then he takes off his pants and underwear, standing naked and already a lot cleaner without his clothes. Green eyes flicker downward as Yusaku wrinkles his nose as his girl body, looking away and huffing. It’s not that he doesn’t like being naked, it’s just that...he feels a little exposed and weird. Because Ms. Noriko keeps reminding him that he was born a girl, and keeps telling him about girl things that will happen to him when he grows up and what he can do with those girl things. Like distracting potential business partners with his chest or legs. It’s weird, and he wishes she would stop because he’s pretty sure he’s a boy.

That’s another reason he likes Ryou so much, even when Yusaku is naked his friend never questions the fact that he’s a boy.

He takes Ryou’s hand, letting the older boy pull him up onto the raised floor, because Yusaku always has trouble getting up on his own. Then, evilly, his friend smiles and pushes him into the bath. He lands underwater for a second, and has to scramble to raise above the bubbles again, “Hey! That was mean!” 

“That’s what you get for not being vigilant.” Ryou teases him, giving that same evil, _evil_ , smile as he leans forward and peers down at him. “Trust no one, Yu.”

“Boo.” Yusaku splashes him really good for that, soaking Ryou’s whole pajama shirt and his hair too, and the blue haired boy refuses to feel bad about it even as his friend gives a surprised cry. “Trust no one.” 

“I’m going to get you for that!” Ryou swears, peeling off his wet shirt and throwing it out of sight. His pants and underwear go next, and then he jumps into the water, hitting Yusaku with a wave of water and bubbles. Yusaku shields himself as best he can, but it’s useless in the face of such unwavering odds.

“You jerk!” Yusaku splashes back once the water has stopped being a danger. 

The result was a splash fight, with the both of them at war pushing water into one another’s faces until their arms were tired and the water gathered on the raised floor started spilling onto the actual floor. They both huff, soaked and flushed pink, bubbles dripping from their hair. They were incredibly silly just now, and that was fun and all, but it’s time to clean up now.  
  
So they both sigh, leaning against each other, passing over the sponges and soaps and washing the grossness of the day off each other’s skin...after Yusaku made himself a bubble crown. Because he was going to be a king one day, that’s what miss Noriko said. Ryou, on the other hand, made himself a bubble beard that he says looks like his papa’s. If that’s true then Ryou’s papa has a very nice beard. Though it must, alas, be melted off by the spong of cleaning.

When they’re done they climb out of the tub, and Yusaku doesn’t slip this time when he crawls off the risen floor and onto the actual floor. Ryou has already gotten the towels by the time he’s worked his way down, the neat ones that look like animals and have hoods and wrap around you like a cape or a robe. And they do wrap themselves, all nice and clean now, laughing as they run from the messy bathroom towards Ryou’s room.

The thing about Ryou’s house is that it used to be an “observatory”, which Ryou says means it was built to be a big lab so that sciencey people could study stars, or Stardust Road. And even though it’d been changed into a house, it’s still super big and a lot of the rooms are super spacey. Ever since he moved in for their forever sleepover Yusaku has, technically, made half the room into his own. Because Ryou’s room is as big as those waiting rooms at the doctor’s office and he doesn’t actually have all that much in it. In fact, Ryou hadn't actually started decorating his room until Yusaku moved in. It used to be just a bed and a set of dresser drawers, with a desk pushed up against a wall that had a big and fancy looking computer on it that Ryou did most of his homework on. But now it was a bit more decorated, with lots more pillows on the bed, and toys lining the floor, and a few posters on the walls that weren’t a window. Ryou had even gotten a second desk to put beside his for Yusaku to put his own homework on. 

The desk was where Yusaku kept his clothes. The drawers probably weren’t supposed to be used to tuck away clothes, but he didn’t keep much here. Or, well, he didn’t. Over the month he had been sort of slowly bringing more and more clothes over, so he was running out of space in the drawers. Soon Ryou might actually need to buy another dresser. But for now all of his clothes could fit in his desk.

“Where whatever is nicest.” Ryou told him, going for his own dresser, “That way we’ll look nice for our birthday date.” 

“Okay.” Yusaku mutters, pulling open his drawer for one of his nicer shirts. He doesn’t have any of his really fancy clothes here, though. He’ll have to remember to pick some up next time he goes to pick up his homework from Ms. Noriko. For now, though, he picks up a nice, his favorite solid green shirt. “Where do people go on dates anyway? Fancy restaurants?”

“Nah, that’s for adults.” Ryou says, pulling out a tiny button up shirt. He gives it a critical look before deciding it’s not fancy enough and throwing it away, pulling out a button up that looks no different to Yusaku, but Ryou must deem worthy of their outing. “Besides, we just ate.”

“Then where are we going?” Yusaku asks, titling his head as he pulls on his pants. 

“Hmm, I think most people go to cafes.” Ryou nods to himself, buttoning up his shirt, “Then we can go to the park and then come back for the cake.”

“Ohhh, that sounds fun.” Yusaku nods, liking Ryou’s date idea, even if he doesn’t know what he’ll get at the cafe. Well, first time for everything, and he’s bound to find something. “Is that something people do on dates? Go to cafes and the park?”

“I think so.” Ryouken pulls on his own jeans, but he puts on a little belt with them. “That’s what the internet said.”

The younger boy blinks, surprised. He tilts his head, inquisitive, “Why were you looking up things people do on dates?”

“Because we’re going to be together forever, right?” Ryou nods to himself as he finishes putting on his belt, looking over himself and nodding in satisfaction before turning to beam at Yusaku, holding out his hand, “Logically, that means we’re going to get married one day, so I have to take you on dates.”

The declaration surprises Yusaku, because he hadn’t actually ever thought about getting married. Okay, that wasn’t really true, because he sometimes thought that maybe one day he’d get married to someone, but he hadn’t had anything deeper than that. But, thinking about it, he _had_ promised Ryou forever, hadn’t he? And isn’t that what getting married was? Spending forever together holding hands and living in the same house and sharing food and beds and such? They already did that, and they wanted to keep doing that, so it made sense.

“Oh, okay.” Yusaku nods, taking Ryou’s hand, “Yeah, that makes sense! I don’t know why I didn’t realize sooner. Of course we’re gonna get married! And we’ll be together forever and ever, so we gotta go on dates first!”

It made that warm, fluttery, feeling return when Ryou smiled at him this time, taking his hand and pulling him into a hug. He buries his face in his best friend’s shoulder, leaning into the warmth of the hue as Ryou rocks him to and fro a bit. Something warm and wet touched the skin of his neck, and Ryou sniffed loudly. Yusaku didn’t comment on it though, because his friend hates it when Yusaku notices him being upset.

But Ryou was smiling when he pulled away, blinking away his tears, smiling bright and tugging Yusaku’s arm. “Come on Yu, we’ll eat the cake when we get back.”

“Alright.” He nods, because he has no issues with this. That just means Ryou will have something to look forward to when they get back, maximizing their fun. So he lets Ryou lead him outside, locking the house behind them and beginning their journey down the many, many, steps down the cliff the house was built on. 

It’s the first day of spring today, which means it’s warm, because Den City is a beach city-state in some of the warmer parts of the landmass. That means it’s usually sunny for them, and the flowers have started to bloom. That’s not less true today, because there’s lots and lots of flowers that have already grown and started blooming in the forestry part of the cliff. At the bottom of the steps Ryou has this electrical bike thingy that little kids like them can use, and that’s what he uses to go to town everyday. But before they can reach it Ryou gets distracted by one of the flower fields, stopping them midway down the stairs and staring at what must be a million bluebells and daisies.

Yusaku already knew what the older boy wanted to do even before Ryou tugged at his arm and pulled him towards the field, “Come on.”

Sometimes Yusaku wondered why Ryou didn’t wanna open a flower shop instead of being a science person. He really liked laying in these flower fields a whole, whole, lot. It was his favorite thing to do when he wasn’t working or studying, which he was pretty much always doing. Still, it says something that getting Ryou into one of these fields was the quickest way to make him happy when he’s upset, or to get him to take a nap for that matter.

They step into the field, and the flowers reach Yusaku's knees already, their petals brushing against his jeans as they search for the perfect patch of grass to rest on.

It takes a bit to find a spot that is good enough for Ryouken, but when they find a nice and soft grassy spot his friend sits him down, “Right here Yu.”

“Okay.” Yusaku already knows what to do, falling back against the grass and letting the flowers kiss his cheeks with their soft petals. The sun is warm against his skin, shining bright so he has to close his eyes and let the wind play with his hair. That’s how he likes to spend this time anyway, lying and pretending to nap. The older boy falls into place next to him, the grass shifting as Ryou settles into place. 

He’s fine with waiting, so Yusaku just hums and pretends they’re in a kingdom all of their own. One with a Dark Magician and Blue-Eyes White Dragon all on their own. One where Yusaku is a dark wizard king, and Ryou is his knight, and they live in a castle.

They’re already like that, a bit. They live in an observatory, which is sorta like a castle he guesses, but they have a long way to go before they can have a kingdom. But Yusaku will study hard, and turn in his homework. Then he can finally meet his mama, and she can come to his wedding with Ryou, and everything will be happy. Not like a fairytale, exactly, because Ms. Noriko’s fairy tales usually end up with people getting eaten and puppets losing their legs and other sad stuff. But like those movies Ryou likes to watch. The ones with knights and swords and honor and chivalry. 

Something falls on his face, soft and gentle. Yusaku cracks open his green eyes to see Ryou standing above him with a smile, “Surprise.”

Yusaku blinks again, reaching to touch whatever was on his face, ringers brushing a loop of flowers. He sits up, clutching the flowers, peering down to see they’d been woven together into a crown, “Oh!”

“Happy birthday Yu.” Ryou reaches out, plucking the flower crown out of his hands and gently placing it on top of his hair. “You’re my best friend.”

Yusaku flushed, hiding his hot face behind his hands, “You’re my best friend too, Ryou.”

“I know.” Ryou took one of his hands, pulling it away from his face. He cradles it between both of his own hands for a bit, rubbing his thumbs over his knuckles. Then he slips another woven set of daisies around one of his fingers, holding his hand a little while before finally pulling away, “I’m glad...that we’ll be together forever.”

“Yeah.” Yusaku nods, putting his hand down and giving Ryou his best smile, one he hopes tells his friend how deep and important this promise is to him. “Forever, okay? You promise?”

“Yes!” Ryou leans forward, still clutching Yusaku’s hand between his own, squeezing so hard that it made that hand go a little numb. But Yusaku didn’t mind, because Ryou’s blue eyes were so shiny and bright that they looked like stars. “Always! Forever! You’re my best friend, and you said forever, so you can’t leave me, okay?”

“Why would I leave you?” Yusaku asks him, genuinely confused why his friend is so scared of something so silly, “I love you too much to leave you.”

He must have said something wrong, because Ryouken is upset again. But...he’s also smiling, and he throws himself forward, wrapping Yusaku in another hug and burying his nose in his crowned hair. “I love you too Yu, and after my papa is done with his super secret project I’ll introduce you both, and he’ll love you too, and then we’ll all be together and everything will be _perfect_.”

That sounded very nice, Yusaku thinks. Ryouken can have his papa, and Yusaku can have his mama, and they can have each other and live together and be happy forever.

A promise like that is a better birthday present then he could have hoped for.

**Author's Note:**

> Personal Headcanon: Whether it was one day or a month, Ryouken and Yusaku actually became really good friends before Ryouken kidnapped Yusaku. Yusaku just doesn't remember it because electricity to the face tends to leave memory a bit fuzzy at best. This also explains the plot holes that come with Yusaku not remembering a little kid was the one that kidnapped him from s2, he was piecing his memories back together after finding out Ryouken's identity. 
> 
> So this may or may not be an AU, I'm not sure. But if I expand this particular idea into a full on continuity AU then Ryouken asked his best friend to go into the white room to help his dad, not knowing just how bad it would be. He knew it would hurt a little, but wasn't ready for the hell that would come. Yusaku thus unknowingly agreed to his own worst nightmare.
> 
> Thank you to Katias for letting me use her childhood nicknames for Yusaku and Ryouken. Yes, the constant use of nicknames is supposed to be foreshadowing to not remembering each other's names in the future.


End file.
